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Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

AMD FX-8320E
Can the Nvidia GRID service make cloud gaming viable today?
Core i7 4790K 5.0 GHz - Review - A Silicon Lottery
Corsair CS850M Power Supply Review
Far Cry 4 Video Card Performance Review
Fractal Design Kelvin S24
NewerTech Power2U AC/USB Wall Outlet Review
Noctua NF-A Fan Series Features Roundup
Noctua NH-U9S CPU Cooler Review: Undersized but Over-performs
Pentium J2900 CPU Review
QPAD MK-70 Review
Samsung Galaxy Note Edge Review
We chat with Microsoft's imaging chief about Denim, Lumia 1020, and more #CES2015



AMD FX-8320E

This past September AMD introduced a refresh of their FX CPUs that included a few new more power efficient CPUs along with a major pricing restructure to update the lineup. While I had the chance to test out most of the lineup there were a few that weren’t included. Recently AMD sent over one of the CPUs that I missed the FX-8320E. With the FX-8320E being a budget focused gaming CPU AMD also sent along with it a motherboard that matched its low price point and gaming focus, the 970 Gaming from MSI. Paired together you can get them for just a few dollars more than an i5-4670K with no motherboard or any of the 2011 socket CPUs. With 8 cores and a turbo clock speed of 4 GHz it should still be performer, but of course there really is only one way to find out, let’s check it out.
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Read full article @ LanOC Reviews

Can the Nvidia GRID service make cloud gaming viable today?

Several major gaming hardware makers are in the midst of making a big push for cloud gaming, with new services like the Nvidia GRID and PlayStation Now beginning to pop up with technological gains over tried and failed services, such as On Live. However, despite cloud technology coming as far as it has over the last couple of years, many are still skeptical and run for the hills when 'the cloud' is mentioned, which brings me to the question we are going to try and answer right now- Is cloud gaming viable today in its current form?

Read full article @ KitGuru

Core i7 4790K 5.0 GHz - Review - A Silicon Lottery

You know back in June Intel released Devils Canyon processors, the newly revised Haswell based quad -core processor was to be the hottest 'thang' for overclockers. Unfortunately the results where a bit of a mixed bag, actually the 4770K in a lot of circumstances could be tweaked higher than the 4790K which maxes out mostly in the 4600~4700 MHz range when overclocked. Back in June with Devils Canyon processor release I seriously had a goal to reach the 5 GHz marker with that processor, but whatever I tried, the sample that we retrieved from Intel absolutely maxed out in the 4700~4800 MHz range. So in the back of my head, that always was a bit of an annoyance (with an otherwise lovely product).

A little while ago in our forums somebody mentioned a website based in the 'Silicon Lottery'. The website is selling binned processors, guaranteed to work at a certain clock frequency. Though the idea is nothing new as there are parties out there that purchase a 100 processors and then make a selection, ending up with the best overclockers. So with that 5 GHz marker nagging me, I figured what the hell, Silicon lottery is offering a wide variety of 4790K processors which are binned, what is binning ?

Read full article @ Guru3D

Corsair CS850M Power Supply Review

Today we look at one of the latest power supplies from Corsair, the CS850M – a semi modular unit which ships with 80 Plus Gold certification. Corsair have a wide range of power supplies available as it stands so how does this unit slot into their current portfolio?

Read full article @ KitGuru

Far Cry 4 Video Card Performance Review

Make sure you guys check out our Far Cry 4 Video Card Performance Review today if you haven't done so already. This is a must read for anyone wanting to know what it takes to get the most out of your gaming experience.

We play Far Cry 4 on no less than twelve different GPUs for this in-depth look at what graphics settings are playable in Far Cry 4. We will talk about playable settings and show apples-to-apples so you know what to expect in this game and what upgrading your video card may do for you in this new game.

Read full article @ HardOCP

Fractal Design Kelvin S24

Fractal Design is breaking into the all-in-one liquid cooler market with the Kelvin S24. Featuring anti-kink coils for the tubing along with G 1/4" fitting support, this fully expandable pre-filled water cooler is shaking things up.

Read full article @ techPowerUp

NewerTech Power2U AC/USB Wall Outlet Review

Today we are going to take a look at something a bit different from the usual items found at Bigbruin.com, but it could make using all of those other items much more convenient. What we have is the Newertech Power2U AC/USB wall outlet, which will basically replace an existing wall outlet with not just a pair of 3-prong 120V receptacles, but also a pair of USB ports for charging your devices.

For those not familiar with Newertech - they have been around since the 1980's developing products for the Apple community. Over time, as they saw a need in the marketplace they worked to develop a product for it. You can see a timeline of this development here, which gives you a better understanding of what they have come up with.

Before taking a look at the Power2U provided for review, let's look at some of the product's features and specifications...
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Read full article @ Bigbruin.com

Noctua NF-A Fan Series Features Roundup

We all know that Noctua has long been internationally renowned for its lineup of professional grade computer cooling options. Now Noctua has again stepped up and last September 10th announced additions to their A-series of cooling fans, the NF-A8 and NF-A9, which will succeed their award winning NF-R8 and NF-B9 fans. Noctua has also introduced the NF-A4x10 5V fan, a dedicated 5V version, to the NF-A4x10 fan line due to requests from end users and industry clients for use in network and storage equipment.

Almost 3 years in development, the NF-A4x10 5V, NF-A8 and NF-A9 fans will feature Noctua’s A-series design features such as their Advanced Acoustic Optimization (AAO) frames and airflow design measures like Flow Acceleration Channels, Stepped Inlet Design and Inner Surface Microstructures. Fear not though, the NF-R8 and NF-B9 will still be available under the Noctua’s Redux fan line.

The NF-A8 will be available in three variants; PWM (2200 rpm max), FLX (2000/1650/1200 rpm) and ULN (1400/1000 rpm). The NF-A9 will be available in two variants; PWM (2000 rpm max) and FLX (1600/1250/1050 rpm). Like other A-series fan, all of these new fans will come packaged with integrated anti-vibration pads and accessories including anti-vibration mounts, extension cables and noise adapters.

Read full article @ Neoseeker

Noctua NH-U9S CPU Cooler Review: Undersized but Over-performs

Technology is on a relentless march toward efficiency with each new design an improvement over the previous. Some are small, some are big but it is always moving forward. Even on something as simple as a fan and heatsink, improvements in manufacturing and fan design to balance performance, noise and cooling are expected. Larger coolers were on demand a few …

Read full article @ Modders-Inc

Pentium J2900 CPU Review

Recently, we analyzed the ASRock Q2900M motherboard, which brings an on-board "Bay Trail-D" Pentium J2900 CPU. In this article, we will compare the performance of this processor to other three low-cost, low-TDP CPUs that we reviewed recently: the Sempron 2650, the Celeron J1800, and the A4-5000 to see whether the Pentium J2900 is faster than its competitors or not.

Read full article @ Hardware Secrets

QPAD MK-70 Review

The QPAD mechanical keyboard design has become fairly well established and recognisable due to being part of the vanguard of mechanical gaming keyboards a few years ago. Though the MK-70, in name, sits just below the MK-80, in reality it is closer to the MK-50 in features meaning that is does not have the integrated audio or USB ports like the MK-80/85, but unlike the MK-50, it has blue LED backlighting. As a package it does away with the extra key caps, key cap remover and wrist pad that is included with the MK-50, but as a consolation it is supplied with a USB>PS2 converter so you can access the full NKRO feature out the box.

The logic behind the MK-70 may seem strange at first, but considering it is still packing those MX-Cherry Red mechanical switches, a no fuss LED backlit gaming keyboard that will work effectively (if not better) via the mostly redundant PS2 port (freeing up a USB port) can make a fairly attractive proposition.

Read full article @ Vortez

Samsung Galaxy Note Edge Review

Samsung isn't afraid to experiment with new concepts. Their latest is adding a curved AMOLED display on their flagship large-screened smartphone. They call this device the Galaxy Note Edge, and it's one of the more interesting devices released in 2014. It's a prototype device, but one that Samsung has put on the market to tempt consumers.

Read full article @ Techspot

We chat with Microsoft's imaging chief about Denim, Lumia 1020, and more #CES2015

CES 2015 may be quiet for Windows Phone users, but Microsoft is here for the press, briefings and even a device showcase (we'll have more on that later today). Windows Central was lucky enough to sit down with Juha Alakarhu, Head of Imaging Technology on the Lumia Windows Phones. Lumia Denim, Dynamic Flash, hardware, Lumia Camera 5.0 and more were all on the agenda for the 30-minute interview. I and Myriam Joire (Engadget and Pebble alum) conducted the Juha interview, with Mark Guim doing his magic behind the camera. The talk was quite interesting: Myriam's an engineer by trade and we're both camera enthusiasts, enabling us to ask Juha some detailed questions about the PureView experience.

Read full article @ Windows Central